Prince
Planet Earth
[3 stars]
Could it be the shape of things to come? Or could it simply be a one-off act of mischief perpetrated by an artist with a long-running list of grievances against those who market his wares? Either way, Prince’s decision to give away his new album for free in the UK has sent a few more shudders down the spine of an ailing record industry still struggling to come to terms with the download revolution. There’s just one small catch: you had to buy the July 15 edition of The Mail On Sunday. Failing that, it’s also being handed out, as part of the ticket price, to those attending his upcoming, marathon stint at London’s newly opened O2 Arena.
With the newspaper reportedly paying £250,000 for the privilege, that represents a tidy bit of business for somebody whose career had been dribbling away since the early-‘90s, hitting rock bottom with 2001’s The Rainbow Children, his jazz-influenced Jehovah’s Witness concept album. In 2004, however, the unthinkable happened: he bounced back and began to sound more like the old Prince again.
While Musicology couldn’t hope to match the audacious, pervy, all-singing, all-dancing, miniature sex god and musical polymath of his more youthful purple period, it was a decent enough facsimile, one which he reprised for last year’s 3121. Unsurprisingly, Planet Earth is more of the same, both echoing his own past and occasionally chiming with the more modish likes of OutKast, Kanye West and Gnarls Barkley, names that he influenced in the first place.
Try as others might, though, nobody else has ever really got close to replicating what Prince does himself. And across Planet Earth’s brisk and varied 10 tracks, he is once again doing it pretty well, from cocky rock strut (Guitar) to Chic-style, pumped-up funk (Chelsea Rodgers) and knicker-loosening R&B beats (Future Baby Mama).
Elsewhere, there’s another playful exercise in seduction on the lightly rapping Mr. Goodnight, The One U Wanna C is the jolliest of pop stomps, while Somewhere Here On Earth shows off his still sugar-sweet falsetto in a swooning, cocktail-jazz setting. Even the misfiring title track possesses a lighters-aloft sway and blustering guitar finale to fit the stadiums he is once again filling.
At the very least, it’s good to have him back freshly energised and making music again for the many rather than just the few. As for Planet Earth’s wider implications on the record business, the next few months should be interesting. PETER KANE
Download: Guitar / Somewhere Here On Earth / Chelsea Rodgers
Further Listening
Gnarls Barkley
St Elsewhere
(Warners, 2006)
As playful and adventurous as Prince in his heyday, a thoroughly modern patchwork of pop, soul, hip hop and more that practically defined the new iTunes era.
10:51 AM | 17/07/2007
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'Misfiring title track'? Get's it's all about opinion. In my honest one, the title track is the best Prince song in 15 years. I challenge anyone to find another current artist who can soar to such emotional hights with a guitar.
Posted by Greg Viljoen at 5:41 PM | 19/07/2007 | Report Abuse
'Misfiring title track'? Guess it's all about opinion. In my honest one, the title track is the best Prince song in 15 years. I challenge anyone to find another current artist who can soar to such emotional hights with a guitar.
Posted by Greg Viljoen at 5:41 PM | 19/07/2007 | Report Abuse
I agree--the title song is the BEST one on the album. After that, "Guitar", "Somewhere Here on Earth" and "Chelsea Rogers". This album grows on you, the more you listen--much like "Around the World in a Day" did, when I first heard it. It's not as good as that, however. But, it has more substance that the last two cd's, IMO. All in all, it's another nice, semi-satisfying album from Prince that takes what he did on the last two albums and brings it up to another level (possibly due to Wend and Lisa's presence---always an enhancement to his music).
Posted by John at 4:08 PM | 25/07/2007 | Report Abuse
Definitely better than the last two, which aren't that bad to begin with.
The Rainbow Children's a great album, though, full of old school Prince (1+1+1 = 3 sounds like Erotic City), his best jazz work and some outstanding song-writing (Last December). People have a hard time with the Jehovah's Witness thing, but that's like having a hard time with the Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling because of the Christianity.
Can't wait to see him in London.
Posted by Kenny Park at 10:29 AM | 04/08/2007 | Report Abuse
it's funny how Q says he hit rock bottom with the Rainbow Children and yet gave it 4 stars at the time.
no wonder. it's a brilliant album.
Posted by Alan Hoey at 2:18 PM | 06/08/2007 | Report Abuse
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